The American Journalism Historians Association invites paper entries, panel proposals, and abstracts of research in progress on any facet of media history for its 36th annual convention to be held Oct. 12-14, 2017, in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The AJHA views journalism history broadly, embracing print, broadcasting, advertising, public relations, and other forms of mass communication that have been inextricably intertwined with the human past. Because the AJHA requires presentation of original material, research papers and panels submitted to the convention should not have been submitted to or accepted by another convention or publication.

Research Papers

Authors may submit only one research paper. They also may submit one Research in Progress abstract but only on a significantly different topic. Research entries must be no longer than 25 pages of text, double-spaced, in 12-point type, not including notes. The Chicago Manual of Style is recommended but not required.

Papers must be submitted electronically as PDF or Word attachments. Please send the following:

An email with the attached paper, saved with author identification only in the file name and not in the paper.

J. William Snorgrass Award for outstanding minority-journalism research paper.

Maurine Beasley Award for outstanding women’s-history research paper.

Wally Eberhard Award for outstanding research in media and war.

Research Chair Michael Fuhlhage of Wayne State University is coordinating paper submissions. Authors will be notified in mid-July whether their papers have been accepted.

Panels

Preference will be given to proposals that involve the audience and panelists in meaningful discussion or debate on original topics relevant to journalism history. Preference also will be given to panels that present diverse perspectives on their topics. Entries must be no longer than three pages of text, double-spaced, in 12-point type, with one-inch margins.

Panel participants must register for and attend the convention.

Panel proposals must be submitted electronically as PDF or Word attachments. Please include the following:

Tracy Lucht of Iowa State University is coordinating the panel competition. Authors of panel proposals will be notified in mid-July whether their panels have been accepted.

Research in Progress

The Research in Progress category is for work that will NOT be completed before the conference. Participants will give an overview of their research purpose and progress, not a paper presentation, as the category’s purpose is to allow for discussion and feedback on work in progress. RIP authors may also submit a research paper on a significantly different topic.

For research in progress submissions, send a blind abstract of your study. Include the proposal title in the abstract. The abstract should include a clear purpose statement as well as a brief description of your primary sources. Abstracts must be no longer than two pages of text, double-spaced, in 12-point type, with one-inch margins, excluding notes.

Primary sources should be described in detail in another double-spaced page.

Entries that do not follow these guidelines will be rejected.

The AJHA Research in Progress competition is administered electronically.

Proposals must be submitted as PDF or Word attachments, saved with author identification ONLY in the file names and NOT in the text of the proposal.

Each proposal must be submitted as an attachment, with author’s info (name, project title, telephone number, email address, institutional affiliation, and student or faculty status) in the text of the email.